Prayer

Prayer is an obvious subject to tackle but one we have avoided until now. Why? Firstly, embarrassment. If you want to embarrass a preacher, ask him about his prayer life. Talk to him about his driving, his preaching, even his Christian witness maybe and, though aware of deficiencies, he will cope. But come to his prayer life and see how uncomfortable he gets! Even Spurgeon said 'I usually feel more dissatisfied with my prayers than with anything else I do'.

Then there is the question of whether there is anything worth saying. I knew a man who thought books on prayer a waste of time. 'If you can pray, you can pray. No book is going to put it in to you.' Certainly there is no magic formula for successful praying but surely good practical things can be said to help those willing to learn. So let's mention one or two things that might help those who want to give themselves to seeking God's face. 

1. Expect prayer to be hard work

Christians are often surprised when they realise how reluctant they are to bow before the Lord in prayer. We love the Lord, we want to serve him, so how is it we are so often reluctant to pray? There are obviously various factors. Remaining sin; that prowling lion the Devil; the lure of the world. However, perhaps the main thing is that prayer is an expression of faith and helplessness. As Calvin says, 

'In prayer two things are necessary - faith and humility; by faith we rise up to God and by humility we lie prostrate on the ground'.

Humility does not come naturally and, as Thomas Watson says, the reason why so many prayers suffer shipwreck is that they split against the rock of unbelief. Trying to pray without faith is like shooting without bullets. Lack of faith combines with persistent pride to keep us from the throne of grace even though it is the very best place for us. While unbelief lurks and pride asserts itself prayer will continue to be difficult work indeed. They must be banished. 

2. Exercise Christian wisdom in order to overcome distractions

Once we have begun to overcome pride and unbelief we still have to struggle against distraction. It helps to remember certain things.

• Prayer demands self-denial. While you pray you will miss doing something else. It may be sleep or the newspaper or interesting conversation but you will have to forego something. Without self-denial you will never pray. Be like Mary and choose the better part.

• You may need to warm your heart to begin. We have a place of prayer but no heart to pray. That should not daunt us unnecessarily. This is one reason why it is good to combine Bible reading and prayer. Besides prayer itself, reading the Word is the best and most obvious way to stir yourself to prayer. For some time George Muller, the 19th century Bristol orphanage founder, began each day with prayer. However, he became dissatisfied with this and began to start instead with meditation on the Word, after a brief prayer. He would then pray on the basis of what he had read, interspersing meditation and prayer throughout the time. It transformed his prayer life. Many other men of God have done something similar.

• To overcome distraction there is much to be said for praying aloud. People tend not to, especially if they are conscious others might hear, although praying aloud is not the same as loud praying. It helps one not to wander in one's thoughts and encourages orderly prayer. It also gets the timid used to the sound of their own voice for praying in public.

• Kneeling is another thing that can help. In Scripture people pray in various postures. If we stand we may tire; lying in bed is not a helpful position. Kneel, if you can - it is a reverent position, ideal for prayer.

• Using a notebook is another practical thing. If we come to prayer, especially in the morning, and things that need to be done come to mind, things we have to remember, the best thing to do is to write them down, forget about them until later and give yourself to prayer.

3. Do not be too quick to assess how well you have done at prayer

One other thing is that our times of prayer will vary. Some days will be easy, on others we will feel we have hardly prayed at all. However, we are poor judges. It may well be that what we think of as our best efforts are spoilt by pride while those we think our most feeble are more valued by the Lord, who alone is the judge. Do not waste time on assessing how you have done. Self-consciousness is unhelpful anyway. As O Hallesby says in his classic, Prayer, answers to prayer are not dependent on our emotions or thoughts before, during or after prayer. 

4. Look for answers to prayer

If a man comes into a shop, chooses his goods, pays and then walks out without them something is wrong. Yet Christians come to God in prayer without expecting or looking for answers to those prayers. Sometimes the problem is that the prayers are so general it would be difficult to say whether or not they had been answered. However, even those who pray quite specifically can sometimes forget to look out for answers. It is sometimes suggested we write down our requests and then check off answers to prayer. I have not found this helpful as some things are time bound in character whereas others may not see answers for many years to come. What ever we do we should have the psalmist's attitude, I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation (Psalm 5:3), `Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees'. How glad he is when believers refuse to kneel or rise when they have hardly begun. A Puritan, asked about how long he prayed, replied 'I pray until I have prayed'. That ought to be our attitude. What a difference it might make if God's people daily gave themselves to earnest prayer, praying until they had prayed. 

Originally published in Grace Magazine

40 Good Things to do on a Sunday Afternoon

This is a slightly expanded version of an article that originally appeared in Grace Magazine

The plot of Thomas Hardy’s Far from the madding crowd turns partly on an idle Sunday afternoon when the heroine Bathsheba Everdene, not knowing what to do with herself, engages in a foolish piece of teasing. There seems to be a number of good Christian people today who do not know what to do with themselves on the Lord’s Day. So here is a series of suggestions as to how to use such time wisely. Even if you are involved in meetings or you take a nap there will still be time to do one or two things. It would certainly be impossible to do all of them. Of course, they can be done on any day but for most of us, if they are not done on a Sunday they never will be done. If you have no time for any of them then perhaps you need to take a fresh look at how you organise your week. May they be a help to you, or at the very least set you thinking.

1 Have an extended time of family worship

2 Listen to a sermon or something similar on mp3, downloaded podcast, CD, etc, eg a Sunday sermon you have missed or an old one you have forgotten

3 Read the Bible, perhaps a whole book or section at one sitting

4 Go over (or catch up on) your weekday Bible readings or prepare for your daily Bible readings in the week ahead, eg reading introductory materials

5 Do some Scripture memory work, eg using Navigator aids

6 Compose a picture or a poem arising out of some biblical theme that is on your mind

7 Spend some time in prayer with others or alone. Concentrate on a particular area, eg mission or the family

8 Revise your prayer list

9 Sing some hymns with others, with your own accompaniment, a CD/Youtube/Spotify or on your own

10 Learn a new hymn or teach one to others

11 Listen to some hymns on your Youtube/Spotify, etc

12 Have a Bible quiz or work through Bible puzzles with any children around

13 Read a good Christian biography or church history, eg one of the volumes in Nick Needham’s 2000 Years of Christ’s Power or Arnold Dallimore on George Whitefield

14 Read a good commentary or doctrinal book. Perhaps you could read through something like Matthew Henry’s Commentary or Grudem or Reymond’s Systematic Theology Sunday by Sunday. How about working through the 1689 Confession?

15 Read a Christian classic with others (use a children’s edition if youngsters are involved) eg Pilgrim s Progress

16 Read from a good Christian coffee-table book such as a book of maps and charts or a pictorial encyclopaedia

17 Read a good Christian magazine

18 Read something from a good Christian website downloaded earlier in the week

19 Talk about the things of God with other Christians indoors or out

20 Share your testimony with someone or listen to theirs - again or for the first time

21 Discuss the sermon you have heard or share it with someone who has not. How much can you remember?

22 With children, discuss the Sunday School lesson or children’s address. Help them with memory work or catechise them. Even work through one for yourself, eg The Shorter Catechism or the Baptist versions of Keach or Spurgeon. This can be done while out walking

23 Visit someone who is in hospital or sick at home

24 Check that all is well with your neighbour next door, especially if they are elderly

25 Show hospitality to someone - a stranger or someone who would otherwise be on their own

26 Engage formally in self-examination using questions for your soul, eg go through The Ten Commandments or The Beatitudes

27 Meditate on God’s goodness to you, especially in recent days. Keep a weekly diary of God’s providences

28 Write a journal entry concerning God’s dealings with you over the last week

29 Write a pithy sentence summing up some lesson you have learned in the last week

30 Write down one way in which you have related to God’s Word over the past week in an alphabetically arranged book. Soon you will have your own uninspired but personal Psalm 119

31 Write a letter or send an e-mail to a missionary

32 Write a letter or send an e-mail or telephone to encourage a fellow believer, someone recently bereaved perhaps

33 Write a letter or send an e-mail on behalf of a persecuted believer

34 Write a letter or send an e-mail to or telephone an unbeliever pointing them to Christ

35 Telephone or text someone who was absent from church and see how they are

36 If you know what the passage will be in the evening look over it in preparation

37 Telephone someone to invite them to the evening meeting

38 Go out evangelising with tracts, door to door or something similar

39 Did the minister suggest something in his morning sermon to look at or did something come to mind as he preached - a passage to look up, a subject to investigate? Start on it

40 Take a walk in the park or countryside and see how many things you see to give thanks for

Reasons to be cheerul

A national newspaper recently highlighted the moral failures of some of the 22 members of Tony Blair's cabinet. While several are good family men with nothing to blemish their records, it is not so simple with others. Of these, two are married to divorcees and one co-habits with his female partner. Four have remarried following divorce or the dissolution of their previous marriages. At least two of these have conducted extra-marital affairs that have eventually become public knowledge. One was recently revealed to have been an unmarried teenage mother. Two others had their marriages dissolved but have not remarried. In one of these cases the man's wife left him for another man now also a member of the cabinet. 

Ron Davies, whose resignation prompted this article, remarried six weeks after divorce from his first wife in 1981 and appears to be guilty of other forms of immorality. Four members have never married. Of these, one is openly homosexual and another has subsequently been `outed', to obvious embarrassment but not shame, as also being guilty of homosexual activity. A third has also been accused of such things. 

Clearly the present government, while realising that the promotion of family values is necessary for the nation's good, leaves something to be desired as far as their own family values are concerned. It was the same with the previous government which, while calling us back to basics, was repeatedly revealed to be deficient in this very area. 

With the apparent come-back of the immoral Baptist Bill Clinton, in America, it is all rather depressing for those who long to see biblical morality upheld. But is the situation new? Were the Emperors of Paul's day any better? In the history of this nation there have not been many upright monarchs or politicians. Many were notorious for immorality. The only difference today is that such knowledge is a little easier to come by. In the Scriptures Paul tells us (1 Timothy 5:24) The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. 

Obvious good deeds

He goes on to say In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden. As we come to the end of the century we inevitably look back over the years, especially the more recent ones, and reflect on progress made. As Reformed Baptists we have to be honest and say we have reasons to be disappointed but we also have reasons to be cheerful. It is slightly invidious, I recognise, but let me highlight examples of obvious good deeds. No doubt there are many more, hidden from most at present, but one day to be revealed. 

1. On a world-wide scale

Last month saw the official retirement of Philip Grist as Grace Baptist Mission literature co-ordinator. The idea of the work is to provide serious Christians, especially pastors and student pastors, with good solid teaching in a form they can easily understand even if their English (or other language) is limited. The idea had its origin with John Appleby when still in India and he pioneered this work following his return. Of course, there are many elements in such a project. There is the Banner of Truth which, with others, began to reprint good Reformed literature in the 1950s. There are those who simplify these texts or write the simple commentaries. There is Grace Publications Trust, an arm of Grace Assembly, and GBM who publish the books. There is Evangelical Press and the literature co-ordinators who distribute the books. There are missionaries and nationals who pass on the books. There are those who translate into other languages for those who have no English. What an impact these books are having. What an impact they will continue to have as we enter the new century. 

2. On a national level

I will take the work in Kenya as an example here because I know it best. The work of Brian Ellis in the Philippines is similar. Andrew Swanson's work in the Middle East would be a slightly different example. When Keith Underhill came to Aberystwyth University in the 1960s he was not a Christian. Through the witness of a room-mate he was converted and began to sit under the Reformed ministry of Geoff Thomas. He went first as a school teacher to Kenya, then after theological training in America, where he met his wife Priscilla, returned to plant a church in Nairobi. Some 20 and more years later membership of the church is still only 40 but what has happened is that a Reformed movement of an appreciable size is underway and each year increases in impact so that, without seeking it, a little Reformed Baptist `denomination' is forming around Trinity Baptist Church, Nairobi. The seminary, the pastors' conference, the work of associated pastors and fellow missionaries all combine to give great hope for the future. 

3. On a local level

To take one more example, consider the fact that 20 years ago the Soho area was as bad as ever it was but with no permanent evangelical testimony there. Now, though small and struggling, Immanuel Community Church is there, is known and is maintaining a regular witness to the residents and tourists in that needy area. It was Keith Davies, a former editor of Grace, and others who had the vision and it is especially through Michael Toogood's valiant efforts that not only was a church planted in Soho but another in Covent Garden, under Mike Mellor. It is hoped to begin a new work shortly in Holborn. 

These are no mean achievements. They stand as beacons. They assure us that where there are men of vision, men willing to work hard, men of Reformed conviction who look to God and an army of men and women who pray earnestly to the Lord, great things can be achieved. Let us take heart from these examples and play our part also for the sake of Christ's Kingdom.

This article first appeared in Grace Magazine

Redeeming Precious Time

It is said that the great American preacher Jonathan Edwards would often spend 13 hours a day in his study. Picture him, if you can, towards the close of 1734, there in the parsonage at Northampton, New England. He is 30 years old, the father of four little girls, one born the previous spring. Outside, no doubt, there is snow. It is at least very cold. Already there have been some touches of revival and word is spreading of the stirring preaching of the late Solomon Stoddard's grandson. 

The great preacher's thoughts are turned to the coming year. As ever, a pen is in his hand and he is committing his thoughts to paper. His text is Ephesians 5:16 on Redeeming the time. The resulting discourse eventually appeared under the heading The preciousness of time and the importance of redeeming it and is in the second volume of Edwards' works. It is a fitting subject for us to consider at the turn of yet another year over 260 years later. 

The discourse has five main sections with further subdivisions. 

1. He begins by noting how precious time must be, giving reasons why

• An eternity of happiness or misery rests on how we make use of time.

• Time is short. Life passes by so quickly. There is little time and a great deal to do if we are to be saved.

• We cannot be sure how much longer it will continue. We do not know how much time remains. We cannot guarantee the next breath. In the coming year many will die even though as yet they have no inkling of it.

• Once passed it cannot be recovered. You can replace or recover many things that are lost, but not time. Once time is lost, it is lost forever. When we die, all the time we will ever have is gone. With the loss of money, even if we are bankrupt, there is the possibility of making it up again but once time is gone, that is it. There is no further opportunity. 

2. In this light he calls on us to consider the past Already for many the sun is past its meridian. For some it is about to set. What precious moments, hours, days, years, have been wasted. How much could have been done - for God, for our souls, in the years gone by! Think of the leisure time wasted. Think how many Lord's Days have gone by unimproved. We have reason to feel guilty at our profligacy. 

3. He then targets particular sins associated with time wasting time

• Idleness. He is able to quote several Proverbs against this attitude and the New Testament exhortation to hard work in Ephesians 4:28. 

• Wickedness. An appropriate Scripture here, not quoted by Edwards, is the striking 1 Peter 4:3, For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do - living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.

• Worldly pursuits to the neglect of the soul. If we spend our days and hours thinking only of fame and fortune in this world we are neglecting our souls to our great detriment. 

4. He then exhorts us to make good use of what time we have left. Further considerations encourage this.

• You are accountable to God for the way you spend your time. In Thomas Brooks' words, 'Time is not yours to dispose of as you please; it is a glorious talent that men must be accountable for as any other talent.' Edwards reminds us of Matthew 12:36 and how the Lord holds us responsible for every idle word.

• You have wasted much time already. 1 Peter 4:3 is again relevant. A consideration of the time already spent reminds us that opportunities are now more limited, the workload greater than ever and the best of our lives already gone. Such thoughts should not lead to despair but redoubling of effort to make use of what time remains.

• How valuable some consider time when they come to the end of it. He does not mention Rousseau but it is well known that on his death bed he offered his doctor a fortune if his life could be preserved just six months longer.

• How much value those who are past its end put on time. He pictures those in hell who would dearly love to have even a few moments here on earth again. He recognises that experience is probably a better teacher here than he can hope to be but the problem is that when experience has taught its lesson, it is too late. 

5. He concludes with three positive pieces of advice

• Use the present time without delay. Like the psalmist (119:60) we must make haste to obey. There is no profit in delay.

• Use those parts of time that are most precious, especially. He distinguishes holy time from common time as more precious. We must especially make good use of the 52 Lord's Days of 1999 should God spare us. Young people must not let their youth slip by without making the best of their opportunities. He calls on all to Seek the Lord while he may be found and call on him while he is near (Isaiah 55:6). Now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).

• Use your leisure time. Do not waste the spare time you have in idle pursuits. Make the most of your opportunities to draw near to the Lord in this coming year and may God bless you in every way.

This new year article first appeared in Grace Magazine

The Minister and his relaxation Part 2

3. The need for variety

This is implicit in the previous principle but ought to be stated separately. The world says, 'Variety is the spice of life'. More accurately, the Lord has so made us that we need variety, rhythm, pattern in our lives. This is one of the points made in Ecclesiastes 3 and Proverbs 25:27, for example.

In a magazine article, Richard Chester says, 'My experience has been that it is not so much the amount of activity that causes tiredness, but rather that it is the lack of variety that causes staleness.' (10) 'The devoted servant of God will find a measure of relaxation in turning from the more painful to the more soothing exercises of his work', says Bridges. Dr D. M. Lloyd-Jones makes the same point with reference to the need for variety in the minister's reading matter. (11) Change can be as good as a rest. With these three principles in mind we can proceed to some practical points.

1) A day off

In view of what has been said about the Sabbath, surely every minister should take off at least one day in the week. It will, of course, have to be a 'moveable feast' but a set day is advisable. Even Lord's Day Sabbaths are sometimes legitimately lost. If this approach is rejected, a realistic alternative must be pursued. It can happen 'at any time in large or small doses.' (12)

2) Holidays

In an anonymous article entitled 'The pastor is ill', one minister pleads, 'God's ministers need holidays. This ... is conveniently overlooked by (those) Christians who seem to be intent on breaking their pastor's mortal frame in the shortest possible time.' He argues for several breaks a year and the church's responsibility to make this possible financially. The minister should not have to preach when he is away to finance the trip.

Some men have simply never learned to say 'no'. Another pitfall to be avoided is the 'busman's holiday' which is really no holiday at all but yet more Christian service.

3) Other breaks

The practice of 'swapping pulpits' from time to time is to be encouraged. It has many advantages. Four or five Sundays a year seems about right. At least one fraternal and one annual conference is good but too many committees is not. David Kingdon adds a plea for sabbatical leave at regular intervals, which is the practice in many other countries.

4) Physical exercise

In view of what has been said, physical exercise is a must. It does not have to be jogging! I play badminton once a week with a colleague and try to find time for a swim. Many play squash.

Jonathan Edwards apparently chopped logs and Flavel would ride on horseback. Charles Simeon used to walk on the roof of his Cambridge apartments, and John Murray would do the 'Murray mile' after lunch. Spurgeon loved walking in the woods. An American, Dr Theodore Cuyler, remembered walking with Spurgeon one day and 'conversing in high spirits'. Suddenly he stopped and said, 'Come, Theodore, let us thank God for laughter.' (13) The place of laughter in relaxation ought not to be forgotten either.

5) Hobbies

A hobby or another interest can be useful. We need to take care, however. 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.' But all play and no work makes men mere smatterers. I know of men with artistic and musical skills who just have to let them rust for fear of their former professions taking over. Ernest Kevan used to advise his students to read the newspaper standing up so that they avoided wasting time on it. Some similar procedure needs to be found with other pastimes.

Under this heading we may mention what Dr Lloyd-Jones has to say about music. He speaks of the enjoyment he himself derived from music and mentions Karl Barth's fondness for Mozart. 'A general stimulus' he goes on, '... is often more helpful than a more particular intellectual one. The man himself is bigger than his intellect ... Anything that does you good, puts you into a good mood or condition, anything that pleases you or releases tensions and relaxes you is of inestimable value.' (14)

6) Family life

The situation will vary from person to person and from period to period. But for all of us this will include some contribution to the household chores (15) and probably some handiwork too. This is apart from the need at least to acknowledge the existence of others under the same roof from time to time. Richard Chester is very honest when he writes:

I know that it is my responsibility as a father to spend time with my children. But I have found it very easy to do this in a legalistic fashion with my mind on other things, so that I almost begrudge the time spent in this way. Similarly, pastors may be told of their duty to spend one evening a week sitting with their wife. So they come out of the study armed with a pile of papers and books and simply change their place of work for one evening! When I play with my children or relax with my wife, I must do it heartily as to the Lord. (16)

Finally, for any who have neglected such principles let me quote again from David Kingdon's essay: 

Remember the limitations of your bodily strength. If you are thoroughly tired in body (and therefore in mind as well) do not drive yourself on by sheer will-power. Do not be afraid to go to your church officers and tell them that you must have a rest from your ministerial labours. It is better to do this sooner rather than later, before you are prostrated for a lengthy period. (17)

10 Richard Chester, 'The Christian and his use of Time,' Reformation Today, No. 27, p. 29.

11 D. M. Lloyd-Jones, op. cit., p. 182.

12 Gordon MacDonald, op. cit., p. 187.

13 From Arnold Dallimore, Spurgeon: A New Biography, Banner of Truth Trust, p. 178.

14 D. M. Lloyd-Jones, op. cit., p. 183.

15 Martin Luther says somewhere, 'If the neighbours laugh at me when I hang out the nappies, I do not mind for God and his angels also smile.'

16 Richard Chester, op. cit., p. 30.

17 David Kingdon, op. cit., p. 27.
This is the second part of an article originally published in The Banner of Truth and available here.

The Minister and his relaxation Part 1

The subject of the minister and his relaxation is a sub-division of the subject of the minister's self discipline. It is an aspect of the mental and physical hard work associated with a faithful Christian ministry. Interestingly, Charles Bridges deals with the subject under the heading 'Want of Christian Self-denial'. He wisely states:

Far be it from the writer to advocate ascetic austerity ... He would not forget that we are men as well as ministers; servants and not slaves ... And let him not suppose that his Master requires labour when both his body and spirits demand rest. A wise management of diversion will tend rather to strengthen than to enervate the tone of his spiritual character and the power of his ministry. (1)

This aspect of self-discipline is sometimes overlooked. A Russian proverb advises, 'Mix work with leisure and you'll never go mad.' But what we need is clear biblical principles to guide us. In Preaching and Preachers Dr Lloyd-Jones makes the point that we are all individuals. 'Jack Sprat', he reminds us, 'could eat no fat; his wife could eat no lean. '(2) We are all different and what suits one temperament will not suit another. Former Premier Edward Heath complained recently that the present Prime Minister (Mrs Thatcher) is 'stale and repetitive because she rarely takes time off'. Prime Ministers differ and so do gospel ministers. In spite of this we do not then say, 'Let every man do what is right in his own eyes.' Rather we turn to the Scriptures for a theology of mental and physical relaxation. The fine tuning for the individual can be done once the basic principles have been laid down. We can discern at least three important principles.

1. The importance of the body

To despise the body is Greek, not Christian. Paul does emphasise the spiritual. Godliness has value for all things; but not to the exclusion of the corporeal. Physical training is of some value (1 Timothy 4:8). We must never forget: 'The body is ... for the Lord and the Lord for the body.' 'Do you not know', Paul asks the Corinthians, 'that your bodies are members of Christ himself ... a temple of the Holy Spirit?' 'You are not your own; you were bought at a price, therefore honour God with your body' (1 Corinthians 6:13, 15, 19, 20). 'Present your bodies as living sacrifices', he says in Romans 12:1. This is very important for the Christian minister for at least three reasons.

1) In his essay in a book Preaching, R C Sproul argues that if a man is to 'survive the rigours of effective preaching' he must be physically strong. He estimates that half an hour's preaching can use up as much energy as eight hours' manual labour (if done properly!). Dr Billy Graham was cautioned against the dangers of physical exhaustion due to preaching. Paul is a biblical example of a preacher who, despite many other weaknesses, must have been physically strong to endure all he did. In the light of this, Sproul took up jogging.3

In another essay in the same volume, Gwyn Walters adds,

The self-image and self-confidence of preachers will vary (unless the grace and Spirit of God intervene) in terms of how they feel bodily. They are helped if they feel they can convey that they are disciplining their body through diet, exercise and rest, and look and feel healthy with radiant colour and absence of pain, weakness and fatigue. A clear conscience regarding gluttony, overindulgence, lethargy and laziness as they affect physical appearance also helps. (4 )

2) Ministers also need to pay attention to their bodies because of the sedentary nature of much of their task. In seeking to isolate some of the factors that lead to ministerial depression, David Kingdon notes, 'If we would feed our people with the finest of wheat we must spend long hours in our studies. The result is that we can, if we neglect regular exercise, become sluggish and peculiarly liable to attacks of depression.'

An allied problem can be 'workaholism'. 'There is always more to be done, always that extra visit, those few more pages to be read, that letter to be written. So the minister becomes a stranger to relaxation ... Utterly weary, he drags himself each day to perform his spiritual duties.' (5)

Spurgeon quotes Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy to the same effect and adds his own call to relax with the beauties of nature in his essay, 'The Minister's Fainting Fits.' (6)

3) It is not out of place to mention the duty of self-preservation and the wisdom of extending our usefulness as much as we can. We admire men like M'Cheyne and Brainerd in spite of, not because of, their premature deaths. Luther and Owen both suffered in later life because of earlier physical neglect. They both regretted their immaturity. If suicide is a sin, then surely to neglect physical and mental health is a fault of the same species. The facts about healthy eating and regular exercise are well known. The over-enthusiasm of some for these things does not invalidate the need for them.

2. The Sabbath or rest principle

Gordon MacDonald closes his very helpful little book Ordering your Private World with a chapter entitled 'Rest beyond Leisure'. Despite the 'leisure industry' few people today, it seems, know how to rest. And so MacDonald reiterates what is not only the fourth commandment but a creation ordinance honoured by the Lord himself, the need to rest one day in seven.

Exodus 31:17 tells us that on the seventh day of creation, God 'abstained from work and rested' or, literally, 'refreshed himself'. God himself cannot need rest, but he has laid down a pattern for us. Pausing to look back, to look forward and to refresh ourselves in Christ is a Christian duty and privilege. Wilberforce once lamented the suicide of a fellow politician with these words, 'With peaceful Sundays the strings would never have snapped as they did from over-tension.'

Of course, for the minister there is no regular Lord's Day Sabbath. But are we to be so wooden in our approach to Scripture that we fail to see that the Sabbath principle applies even so? When Jesus said to his disciples, in Mark 6:31, 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest', he was not introducing a new commandment but implementing an old one in the only way possible in their situation. Ministers must do the same.

But how? Following a four-month sabbatical, Gordon MacDonald and his wife came to an important decision affecting their rest-time. After their return to the pastorate, Thursday became their rest day or (as they liked to call it) their 'Sabbath'. As he says, 'Obviously every Thursday could not be budgeted for Sabbath, but that became the norm'. He adds the vital point that, 'We do not rest because our work is done; we rest because God commanded it and created us to have need for it.' (7)

David Kingdon accuses ministers of trying to be wiser in this respect than their Creator. 'We are the worst Sabbath breakers in the best of causes', he says. (8)

Spurgeon writes similarly:

The bow cannot be always bent without fear of breaking. Repose is as needful to the mind as sleep to the body. Our Sabbaths are our days of toil, and if we do not rest upon some other day we shall break down. Even the earth must lie fallow and have her Sabbaths, and so must we. Hence the wisdom and compassion of our Lord, when he said to his disciples, 'Let us go into the desert and rest awhile.' Does some red-hot zealot denounce such atrocious forgetfulness of present and pressing demands? Let him rave in his folly. The Master knows better than to exhaust his servants and quench the light of Israel. Rest time is not waste time. It is economy to gather fresh strength. Look at the mower in the summer's day, with so much to cut down ere the sun 3 sets. He pauses in his labour - is he a sluggard? He looks for his stone, and begins to draw it up and down his scythe, with 'rink-a-fink - rink-a-fink- rink-a-fink'. Is that idle music - is he wasting precious moments? How much he might have mown while he has been ringing out those notes on his scythe! But he is sharpening his tool, and he will do far more when once again he gives his strength to those long sweeps which lay the grass prostrate in rows before him. To tug the oar from day to day, like a galley-slave who knows no holidays, suits not mortal men. Mill-streams go on and on for ever, but we must have our pauses and our intervals. Who can help being out of breath when the race is continued without intermission? Even beasts of burden must be turned out to grass occasionally; the very sea pauses at ebb and flood; earth keeps the Sabbath of the wintry months; and man, even when exalted to be God's ambassador, must rest or faint; must trim his lamp or let it burn low; must recruit his vigour or grow prematurely old. It is wisdom to take occasional furlough. In the long run, we shall do more by sometimes doing less. On, on, on for ever, without recreation, may suit spirits emancipated from this 'heavy clay, but while we are in this tabernacle, we must every now and then cry halt, and serve the Lord by holy inaction and consecrated leisure. Let no tender conscience doubt the lawfulness of going out of harness for a while, but learn from the experience of others the necessity and duty of taking timely rest. (9)

1 Charles Bridges, The Christian Ministry, Banner of Truth Trust, p. 137.

2 D. M. Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers, Zondervan, p. 167ff.

3 R. C. Sproul, Preaching, ed. S. T Logan Jr. Evangelical Press, p. 107ff.

4 Gwyn Walters, op. cit., p. 447.

5 David Kingdon, 'Ministerial Depression, Banner of Truth Magazine 231, p. 24.

6 C. H. Spurgeon, Lectures to my Students, First Series Lecture 11, Baker, p. 171ff.

7 Gordon MacDonald, Ordering your Private World, Highland Books, p. 173ff.

8 David Kingdon, op. cit., p. 24.

9 C. H. Spurgeon, op. cit., pp. 174, 175. 

This is the first part of an article originally published in The Banner of Truth and available here. Part 2 to follow.

Prince of Egypt - Film Review

Dreamworks studio moguls Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen were discussing what makes a great animated motion picture. They agreed that it had to be something epic and grand, as epic and grand as the story of Moses and the Ten Commandments. Eventually, it was the period leading up to Sinai that became the subject of the first animated movie from the new studio. It appeared at the end of last year and created a flurry of interest among evangelical believers. The large CLC Christian Bookshop in London carried at least four titles in connection with the film and some churches wove the film title Prince of Egypt into their programmes. 

Positively

So what did we think of it? It is undoubtedly a great technical achievement. Any project involving 400 artists in 26 different countries working for three and a half years deserves some consideration. The scene near the end where Israel crosses the Red Sea is particularly impressive and brings home what an amazing thing it must have been to have been present. I spoke to an evangelical who was consulted and he said that they originally intended to present the scene with just three feet of water! Thankfully they were persuaded otherwise. 

It is good that the film attempts to deal honestly and fairly with the subject matter and is not guilty of blatant blasphemy or distortion. Great care was taken by the studio to consult with the major faiths that acknowledge Moses as a prophet. Many theologians of different persuasions were consulted. Further, it cannot be a bad thing when books are on sale in the High Street drawing attention to the first half of the Book of Exodus. At the start of the film itself we are urged to read the full story in Exodus for ourselves. Hopefully, some have been prompted to read the neglected book and who knows where that may lead? 

Negatively

However, to describe it, as one American evangelical review did, as having a 'Very clear God-honouring, theocentric, false-religion rebuking, biblical worldview where God is the hero behind the scenes and false-religions are exposed and rebuked' is to overstate the case. If you frequent the cinema this is not a film that you will want necessarily to encourage your Sunday School children to see. Like any adaptation from book to film it makes changes to the story and these are likely to confuse anyone not totally familiar with the original material. Scene after scene is altered. It is hard to think of even one where some change has not been made. Moses putting his hand into the burning bush is a particularly bad example.

More than that, by making the focus of the film the possible brotherly relationship between Moses and Pharaoh, elements are introduced that are alien to the biblical narrative. The dramatic turning point of the film is Moses' realisation that he is a Hebrew. It would seem far more likely that he grew up with this knowledge, passed on by his mother. In the film she quickly disappears from the scene but in the Bible she becomes Moses' nurse. 

Then there is the very ethos of the film. As so often happens, all the subtle nuances and the truly theocentric nature of the original are flattened out into the drab humanistic landscape that encroaches ever further into the Eden of a truly biblical and life honouring belief system. Kelly Asbury, head of story on the film, explained the approach when in an interview she said, `We wanted to show that they are all humans with different belief systems that are not good or bad - it's what they believe.' Of course, it is difficult to sustain this in the light of the fact the Egyptians were given over to idolatry and were cruelly subjecting the Hebrews to slavery, but that is the stated aim. 

Some of the songs serve to underline the basic humanism of the piece. Moses' mother sings, 'My son, I have nothing I can give but this chance that you may live.' Miriam sings, 'Who knows what miracles you can achieve when you believe. Somehow you will when you believe'. Even the best of the lyrics, Jethro's exhortation to 'Look at your life through heaven's eyes' eventually sinks into references to the 'winds of change and chance' and learning 'to join the dance'. The claim that 'the essence, the truth and the majesty of the story have been honoured' is highly questionable. 

I took my three older boys to see it. The four and five year olds were not over impressed. Despite efforts to inject light relief with the youthful escapades of Ramses and Moses and the over-the-top antics of the magicians, this is a very serious film featuring slavery, hardship, plague and a very large number of deaths. My nine year old got on much better with it and I think it will serve best in helping older children and adults to reflect on the drama of Exodus - the people's suffering, Moses' rejection of Egypt, the role of Jethro, the struggle with Pharaoh, the Passover, the exodus itself and the crossing of the Red Sea. When it appears on video, an evening watching and discussing it may be time well spent. If you do that, perhaps you can discuss the claim of one evangelical that it 'Proclaims the sovereignty of God and his miraculous involvement with mankind ... shows the need for virtue, integrity, character and the Ten Commandments ... shows God acting in history ... foreshadows the Prince of Peace, who leads all those who ask out of their contemporary bondage into freedom in the kingdom of God.' If only it did.

This article first appeared in Grace Magazine. The flim first appeared in 1998.

Creation - Film Review

The film Creation currently showing in British cinemas will catch the attention of thoughtful people. Its ‘creation’ is not that of Genesis 1, but the creation of the famous book published 150 years ago this November. The film, based on Annie’s Box by Randal Keynes, traces the writing of On the origin of species by Charles Darwin from its final year of gestation up to the dispatch of a completed manuscript to the publisher.
Partly using flashbacks to build up the biographical picture, Darwin is portrayed as an attractive though flawed individual. The film particularly focuses on his inner struggles over Origin’s publication. Various factors delay and then spur the manuscript’s progress. While urged to publish by friends like Hooker and Huxley, his wife Emma’s approval is much more hard won. Then there is the letter from Alfred Wallace outlining the same theory, Darwin’s apparently psychosomatic illness and his fear of unleashing an idea into society that could ‘destroy’ even God himself. Interwoven with it all is his relationship with Annie, the favourite daughter whose early death affects him so profoundly.
A film about a man writing a book is potentially dull, but those involved in Creation are seasoned professionals like film director Jon Amiel. The combination of skilful writing, fine acting – especially from lead actors, husband and wife team Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly – beautiful sets, good music and high production standards make this a powerful production indeed.
There are anachronisms, and doubtful dramatic devices and even straight errors of fact, but a production like this is intended to create an impression rather than get every detail right.

Wrong message
No, the film should not be criticised for those faults, but for something far more fundamental – its whole take on evolution. The film’s subliminal message is: yes, there are extremists in the scientific world, among evolutionists too (Thomas Huxley is portrayed as a most unattractive character). But there are also extremists among religionists. Rev. Innes, the vicar of Downe, makes Annie kneel in rock salt scarring her knees as a penance for believing dinosaurs existed! Eventually, he will not even speak to Darwin.
But most of us – or so the film implies – are there in the middle trying not to be unreasonable. In this category, on the one hand, is Darwin himself, along with his close friend Joseph D. Hooker. They have no desire to cause trouble and simply want to know the truth. They are fearful of public reaction, yet capable of quiet courage. On the other, there are gentle, pious people like Emma Darwin, who respect their minister and read Pilgrim’s progress to their children.
These (or us, as the film seems to quietly preach) sometimes feel estranged from cutting-edge scientists and their strange ideas, but if we will only consider the situation carefully and trust them we will soon realise they are right. Like Emma who, on reading the Origin manuscript through, finally unbends to give Charles her blessing, we will see the light and stop all the carping. But the trouble with all of that is that it is woefully inaccurate and dreadfully untrue. Even though Darwin had positive qualities, his theory of evolution was then and remains now both scientifically wrong and essentially anti-God.
What the late Henry Morris described in his book on the history of evolutionary theories as The long war against God continues to this day; this film is the latest salvo in that war. We need to point this out to the naive and reject the caricatures that underlie productions like this.

This article originally appeared in Evangelical Times.

Life of Pi - Film Review

At the end of 2012 the feature film Life of Pi hit the cinema screens. It is based on a prize-winning book by Yann Martel, first published in Canada in 2001 after a series of rejections. The book and film tell the unlikely story of Piscine Molitor ‘Pi’ Patel, an Indian boy who suffers shipwreck and survives 227 days on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger. The film’s director is Ang Lee. It is beautifully shot and a cinematic triumph. In 2010, Barack Obama wrote to the author calling his book ‘an elegant proof of God, and the power of storytelling’.
On one level the book is positive. In one place, for example, the question is asked quite reasonably: ‘If you stumble about believability, what are you living for? Love is hard to believe; ask any lover. Life is hard to believe; ask any scientist. God is hard to believe; ask any believer. What is your problem with hard to believe?’ There is a recognition that, as attractive as doubt may seem, ‘to choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation’.
The film creates interest on several levels and evangelical Christians will find many topics to discuss among themselves or with unbelievers who have read the book or seen the film. The narrative can be divided into three parts. The central and dominating part of the film is the shipwreck and Pi’s experiences at sea. This is, in turns, gripping, shocking and thought-provoking. Man’s instinct for survival and our utter dependence on God come to the fore here. It is to God that Pi apparently cries in the midst of his desperate need; and where else could he have turned?
At the beginning, Pi describes his early life growing up in Pondicherry, French India, where his father owned a zoo. Of particular interest is the way he is raised as a Hindu by his mother, while constantly being challenged by his agnostic father. In his teens he is introduced first to Catholic Christianity and then Islam. Despite his father’s scepticism, he claims to follow all three religions as he ‘just wants to love God’. Typical of many today, he wants to accept all the religions and reject none, an utter impossibility in reality.
In the closing part of the film, officials speak to Pi about why the ship sank. They are sceptical about his story, so he gives them an alternative - an altogether more prosaic and much less attractive version of events. He asks which of the stories they prefer and claims that the truth does not matter, given that he had clearly been shipwrecked and survived. Thinking Christians will immediately baulk at his statement ‘and so it goes with God’.
Crafting stories is a difficult and serious business. Authors are always trying to push the envelope. However, to have any credibility, they have to deal with reality and that is perhaps what makes the film most interesting. Despite the author’s postmodern outlook, which he projects on to the protagonist, he has to deal with reality. Bananas do float, for example, but a carnivorous island seems less likely. The role of the tiger is particularly interesting in this respect. He is utterly realistic and so is both a great help and, in the end, a disappointment to Pi. At the same time, there is a sleight of hand at play and we must be alert to that. In the book, Martel actually confesses that he believes that fiction is ‘the selective transforming of reality’ and ‘the twisting of it to bring out its essence’. So, when he says, ‘I challenge anyone to understand Islam, its spirit, and not to love it. It is a beautiful religion of brotherhood and devotion’, we know that as well structured as this statement may be, it is simply false.
This article originally appeared in Evangelical Times.

Not to be confused with 7

LET’S begin by distinguishing Kittel, Kittel and Kitto. Although he died in Germany John Kitto (1804-1854) was born into the heart of Brethrenism in Plymouth. Profoundly deaf from the age of 12, he nevertheless went out as a missionary. An author of books he is best remembered for his extensive Daily Bible Illustrations, still in print today. Father and son Rudolf and Gerhard Kittel were later German scholars. Rudolf Kittel (1853-1929) was an Old Testament scholar who served at Tübingen and other universities. He is best known as an editor of Biblia Hebraica, an edition of the Hebrew Scriptures. Gerhard Kittel (1888-1948) came later and was a New Testament scholar with great interest in the Jewish background. He is remembered as the first editor of the voluminous Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (translated into English by Geoffrey Bromiley). He was imprisoned at the end of the war in light of his anti-semitic pamphlet The Jewish Question. Ferdinand Kittel 1832-1903 was a missionary to South India with The Basel Mission who did extensive work on the Kannada language. Helmuth Kittel (1902-1984) was a German New Testament scholar.

Knox has been a name to remember in church history ever since John Knox (c 1514-1572) tore through Scotland in a blaze of righteous zeal. In more recent times other Knoxes have arisen. One with exactly the same name was American theologian John Knox (1900-1991). Edmund Arbuthnott Knox (1847-1937) was the son of an East India Company chaplain and an Anglican Bishop. A prominent evangelical preacher he founded Blackpool Beach Mission. He had five children. His son Ronald Arbuthnott Knox (1888-1957) converted to Romanism as a young man. He translated the Bible, wrote a New Testament commentary and several detective novels. He was one of four brothers who distinguished themselves. Wilfred Lawrence Knox (1886-1950) was an Anglican clergyman and theologian. Alfred Dillwyn "Dilly" Knox (1884-1943) was a classics scholar and papyrologist at Cambridge and a codebreaker. Edmund George Valpy Knox (1881-1971) [Evoe] was a writer and edited Punch 1932-1949. Their sister Their sister Lady Winifred Frances Peck (née Knox) (1882-1962) was an author of literary fiction and biographies. Her niece Penelope Fitzgerald wrote about the four Knox brothers. David Broughton Knox (1916-1993) was an outstanding teacher at Moore College, Sydney and founded Whitefield College, South Africa. 

Kelly is a popular Irish name. Thomas Kelly (1769-1855) was a popular Irish hymn writer (Look ye saints! The sight is glorious, The head that once was crowned with thorns and others). William Kelly (1821-1906) was another Irish man. He edited J N Darby’s collected writings and authored books on textual criticism and allied themes. John Kelly (1801-1876) was a Congregational preacher and director of the LMS. 

The name John Kennedy (made famous by a US President of distinctly Irish stock) was shared by the famous Dingwall minister (1819-1884) and his preacher father (1770-1841). Today the California based Presbyterian minister D James Kennedy (1930-2007) is best known for his Evangelism Explosion campaign. James Kennedy (1777-1863) a rather short Highland Scot was known as the Great Kennedy. He was converted through the Haldane brothers. A man with the same name (James Kennedy 1819-1884) was a pioneer LMS missionary who wrote a commentary on Romans in Hindustani. 

Perhaps this is the point to mention that besides William Carey’s first convert Krishna Pal (1763-1822), among early converts there was also his son-in-law Krishna Prasad (1786-1806) and a Krishna Das (c1770-1813). 

Kershaw is a good northern name shared by four men, two called James and two called John. James Kershaw (1730-1797) was a Wesleyan itinerant not to be confused with the later MP and Evangelical Alliance member, James Kershaw 1795-1864. John Kershaw (1766-1855) was baptised as a baby by Wesley and became a Methodist preacher. Better known is the Strict Baptist pastor with the same name John Kershaw 1792-1870. 

There is no time now to warn you that there is a pair of quite different Lutheran brothers Theodor and Julius Wilhelm Martin Kaftan (1847-1937 and 1848-1926 respectively) or three generations of Latrobes in 18th and 19th Century Moravianism. 

We press on rather to the name Lightfoot, which has been borne by at least three English biblical scholars. From 1602-1675 lived John Lightfoot, a very learned scholar and one of several Erastians present at the Westminster Assembly (1643-1652). Joseph Barber Lightfoot (1828-1889), a member of the committee that produced the Revised Version and latterly Bishop of Durham, produced a number of commentaries on Paul’s epistles. Finally, there is New Testament scholar Robert Henry Lightfoot (1883-1953). 

Some 13 popes have taken the name Leo, from Leo the Great, pope from 440 until his death in 461 to Leo XIII (1878-1903) who succeeded in 1878. Some lasted six months or less, others longer. Leo III (Pope from 795 until his death in 816) crowned Charlemagne. Luther’s foe was Leo X (1475-1521) who became Pope in 1513. 

Talking about the Reformation, it might be worth noting that Jacques Lefevre d’Etaples (1450-1537) translator of the French Bible must be distinguished from his contemporary Pierre Lefevre (1506-1546) one of the founders of the Jesuits. 

There is little likelihood of us confusing High Anglican William Law (1686-1761), author of the Serious Call and evangelical Anglican Henry Law (1797-1884), some of whose books are also in print today. 

The 25 volume Commentary on the Holy Scriptures translated from the German by Philip Schaff, still seen today, is the work of theologian Johann Peter Lange (1802-1884). Other German Langes include Francke’s colleague, Halle professor Johann Joachim Lange (1670-1744). There is also Johann Christian Lange (1679-1756) in the same tradition. The author of O God thou bottomless abyss which was translated and popularised by Wesley was the Mennonite Ernst Lange (1650-1727). All four wrote poems and hymns. 

Finally, a little word about the Arian and martyr Lucian of Antioch (c 240-312). Although he was born in Samosata, he is not to be confused with the earlier pagan writer Lucian of Samosata (c 125-190) who is of interest because of references to Christians in his satires. Lucian of Beauvais (d c 290) was a Christian martyr and St Lucian of Chester (fl 1195) a Christian monk, was the author of De laude Cestrie.
This article first appeared in The Evangeelical Library Bulletin and was the last to be completed in the series. Perhaps I will work on M-Z and see if I can finish it.

Not to be confused with 6

JAMES is a form of Jacob and a popular name in the English New Testament. Seven kings of Scotland have also borne the name. It is James I [of England, VI of Scotland] 1566-1625 who gives his name to the King James Bible of 1611. In Scripture we need to be careful to distinguish James the Just, brother of our Lord, James the Less, son of Alphaeus, and James the Great, brother of John. 

Though there was only one King John in England John too is a popular name and in the New Testament we have to distinguish between John the Baptist and John the Apostle. In the rest of church history there have been several other Johns designated with similar titles such as John of Antioch (d 441), John of Damascus (c675-c749), John of Montecorvino (c1247-1330), John of Paris (c1250-1306), John of Capistrano (1386-1456), John of Wessel (Johannes Ruchrat c1400-1481), John of Avila (1500-1569), John or Jan of Leyden (Jan Beukelszoon c1509-1536), John of the Cross (Juan de Yepis 1542-1591) and John the Constant (1468-1532), Elector of Saxony and friend of Luther. 

Many many Popes have borne the name. Most confusingly two have been known as Pope John XXIII. The first was Baldassare Cossa (c1370-1419), Pope from 1410-1415. He convened the Council of Constance that condemned Hus but also deposed Cossa. He is considered an anti-pope by Roman Catholic historians and so when Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (1881-1963) became Pope in 1958, he also took the same title. Some Protestants saw significance in that at the time. This is the Pope who convened Vatican II. Of Popes called Innocent most famous is Innocent III (Lotario d’Conti 1160-1216), who became Pope in 1198. He excommunicated King John. Innocent I (360-417) became Pope in 402. He is considered a saint. He enforced clerical celibacy. Innocent XI (Benedetto Odescalchi 1611-1689) became Pope in 1676. He was a reformer who tangles with Louis XIV of France. 

Coming so far apart in history one is unlikely to be confused about Ignatiuses and Jeromes but it is perhaps worth mentioning that as well as the early martyr Ignatius (d 117) Bishop of Antioch and disciple of the Apostle John, there was Ignatius Loyola (Inigo Lopez de Recalde 1491-1556), founder of the Jesuits. There are many other Ignatii in Catholicism and Orthodoxy.

Similarly, as well as Jerome (Hieronymus, Sophronius Eusebius c345-420), translator of the Latin Vulgate, there is the later Jerome of Prague (c1370-1416) another martyr and a colleague of the proto-reformer Hus. Besides that first St Jerome, the Catholic church suggets there three others - St Jerome of Pavia (fl 778-787), St Jerome Emiliani (1486–1537), Italian humanitarian, founder of the Somaschi Fathers and St Jerome Hermosilla, a Vietnamese martyr.

Two 19th century Jowetts not to be confused are Benjamin Jowett (1817-1893), a Greek scholar who was Evangelical, Tractarian and Liberal by turns. He was tried for heresy but not convicted. John Henry Jowett (1864-1923) succeeded R W Dale at Carrs Lane Congregational Church, Birmingham and, after a stint in America, spent his closing years as pastor of Westminster Chapel, London. William Jowett (1787-1855) was a CMS missionary to the Middle East.

In the nineteenth century there were two clerics at least by the name of John Ireland. The first (1761-1842), an Anglican, is best remembered for using his wealth to promote free education and to endow a chair at Oxford in biblical exegesis. The other (1838-1918) was an Irish American archbishop and founder of the Catholic University of America. Neither of these is to be confused with the English composer who lived 1879-1962 or the earlier Scottish theologian who lived in the fifteenth century.

It is possibly worth mentioning that besides Henry Jacob (1563-1624), founder of the first Congregational church in England there is a Lutheran theologian Henry E Jacobs (1844-1932).

Not to be confused with 5

THE name Gregory is a good Christian one as it means ‘Watcher’. It has been used by some 16 popes and so there is potential for confusion. Gregory the Great (540-604) one of the ‘great doctors of the Roman Catholic church’ was first. He became Pope in 590. The first monastic Pope he is remembered best in England as the man who sent Augustine of Canterbury here. In 1073 another monk, a Benedictine, called Hildebrand (c 1073-1085), became Gregory VII. He humiliated Henry IV of Germany but the worm turned and drove him from Rome. Other Gregories include Ugolino (c 1145-1241), Gregory IX (installed 1227), who assisted Assisi in establishing the Franciscans and enabled the Dominicans to set up the Inquisition in 1233. Pierre Roger de Beaufort (c1329-1378) became Gregory XI in 1370, ruling first in Avignon then Rome from 1377. From there he issued five bulls ordering the arrest of proto-reformer John Wycliffe. Angelo Corrario (c 1326-1417) was Pope Gregory XII 1406-1415 alongside two ‘anti-popes’ during a rather confused period of papal history. Ugo Buoncampagni (1502-1585), Gregory XIII from 1572, gave his name to the current Gregorian Calendar. He is remembered too as the man who ordered a Te Deum to celebrae the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of Protestants. 

There is also Gregory Thaumaturgus ie ‘Wonderworker’ (c 213-c 270) who was converted, with brother Athenodorus, through Origen. Bishop of Neo-Caesarea he was at the Synod of Antioch in 265. Gregory of Nazianzus (c 330-c 390) and Gregory of Nyssa (c 330-c 394) with Basil, Nyssa’s equally nice (!) older brother, are known as the ‘Three Cappadocians’. Nazianzus was the poet and orator of the three. He wrote against Arianism and preceded Chrysostom at Constantinople. Nyssa was the philosopher scholar and apologist of the three, the only one to marry. He too opposed Arianism and like Nazianzus was at the Council of Constantinople in 318 where, as a ‘pillar of Catholic orthodoxy’, he had much influence. Later again we have Gregory of Tours (c 538-594), famed for his History of the Franks, and Gregory of Utrecht (c 701-776), companion to Boniface and missionary to the Frisians.

Gregory the Illuminator (c 257 – c 331) is remembered as the man who converted the Armenians to Christianity in 301. Gregory Palamas (c 1296 – 1357 or 1359) was a prominent theologian and ecclesiastical figure of the late Byzantine period. Gregory of Rimini (c 1300 – 1358) was a Christian philosopher.
A number of 19th century ministers bore the surname Gordon. Adoniram Judson Gordon (1836-1895) named for (and not to be confused with) the Baptist missionary to Burma, was the successful Boston preacher who wrote ‘My Jesus I love thee’ and founded the eponymous Gordon College. Canadian Charles William Gordon (1860-1937) wrote novels with a high moral tone under the pseudonym ‘Ralph Connor, the sky-pilot’. American Samuel Dickey Gordon (1859-1936), slightly later, is best remembered today for his devotional Quiet Talks series. There was also a Boston liberal George Angier Gordon (1853-1929) but the best known Victorian Gordon is General Charles George Gordon (1833-1885) Chinese Gordon, who died at Khartoum. A serious Bible student and a Christian soldier it is his preferred site for Golgotha that is known as Gordon’s Calvary.
There is an American Hebrew scholar alive today called Cyrus H Gordon. Canadian Bruce L Gordon is a proponent of intelligent design while the American Yale historian Bruce Gordon has written on Calvin.

Guthrie is another popular surname. James Guthrie (1613-1661) was a martyred covenanter. William Guthrie (1620-1665) was another covenanter, best remembered for his The Christian’s Great Interest. Thomas Guthrie (1803-1873) was a doyen of the early Free Church. In more recent years Donald Guthrie (1916-1992) has made his name as author of a well respected and scholarly Introduction to the New Testament. 

Two distinguished British pioneer missionaries share the name Grenfell. Cornish Baptist George Grenfell (1849-1906) worked initially with Alfred Saker in the Cameroons and later explored the Congo using river steamers brought in parts from England. Sir Wilfred T Grenfell (1866-1940), from Cheshire, was a medical missionary, firstly among deep sea fishermen and then in Labrador and Newfoundland. He was knighted in 1927. 

It is perhaps also worth mentioning that besides the justly famous Puritan Thomas Goodwin (1600-1680), one of the few Independents at the Westminster Assembly, there was also a John Goodwin, an Arminian. There is unlikely to be any confusion but it is worth mentioning that John Gill (1697-1771) the High Calvinist Baptist has a near namesake in Juan Gil (died 1556), a Spanish Reformer who died at the hands of the Inquisition condemned as a ‘Lutheran’. Two Baptist pastors called Gifford are John Bunyan’s pastor in Bedford John Gifford and the later Bristol born London minister Andrew Gifford (1700-1784), another fan of open communion, one of few Baptists to befriend Whitefield. His father Emanuel and grandfather Andrew were also Baptist ministers.

Talking of Lutherans, in the 19th century there were two pastors called Harms who did a lot of good by their preaching. Not related, as far as I know, theologian Claus Harms lived 1778-1855, the lesser known Ludwig Harms lived 1809-1866. Two non-rugby playing Hookers that may cause confusion are Anglican theologian Richard Hooker (1553-1600), author of the famed Laws of ecclesiastical polity. Thomas Hooker (1586-1647) left Anglicanism and formed a Congregationalist church in Connecticut. 

Hall is a very popular name borne by many. Most well known in church history have been Joseph Hall (1574-1656) ‘the Chrysostom of England’ and the Baptist Robert Hall (1764-1831) son ofanother Baptist minister Robert Hall (1728–1791). Hill is only one letter different. I remember as a boy my wonderment that the eccentric London preacher Rowland Hill (1744-1833) had also originated the penny post! In fact, it was a slightly later Rowland Hill (1795-1879). Another of the same name was a viscount and a soldier who distinguished himself under Abercrombie and Wellington. Less forgivable is my brief confusion over William Huntington (1745-1813) and The Countess of Huntingdon (1707-1791) whose Calvinistic Methodist ‘Connexion’ of churches survives to this day. There was also an episcopalian William Reed Huntington (1838-1909), a New England ecumenist. 

Confusion can sometimes come when we are unaware that an individual has a significant relative. For example, the father of the commentator Matthew Henry (1662-1714) Philip Henry (1631-1696) was also a distinguished preacher. Neither must be confused with the 20th century theologian Carl F Henry (1913–2003). Charles Hodge (1797-1878), the Princeton theologian, was succeeded by his son Archibald Alexander Hodge (1817-1886) – not to be confused himself with Archibald Alexander (1772-1851), Hodge senior’s colleague. Scots Baptist Robert Haldane (1764-1842) wrote a fine commentary on Romans. Both he and his brother, James Alexander Haldane (1768-1851), were faithful preachers, used of the Lord. Two later Haldane brothers (John and Richard, grand nephews of Robert) distinguished themselves in medicine and politics respectively. Dr John Haldane’s son J B S Haldane was the Marxist geneticist who emigrated to India. 

One final possible confusion here – Herman Hoeksma (1886-1965) and A A Hoekema (1913-1998) both now with the Lord, were Dutch American professors in the field of systematic theology – Hoekema at Calvin Seminary and Hoeksma at Protestant Reformed Seminary.
This article (now slightly modified) appeared first in The Evangelical Library Bulletin